Many people think of ticks and Lyme disease as something we don't have to worry about in California. Not so, according to data from the state's Department of Public Health. There were 74 confirmed new cases of Lyme disease in California in 2011, the most recent year for which data are available. Forty percent of those were in the Bay Area, with 10, the state high, in Santa Clara County.

The western black-legged ticks - the ones that transmit the disease in California - are not fully grown in the spring. The size of a poppy seed, they can be tricky to spot among the wood and leaves on the ground where they live.

Lyme disease usually starts with an expanding, red rash near the site of the tick bite and flu-like symptoms one or two weeks after contact with the tick. At these early stages, Lyme disease can be successfully treated with antibiotics, but untreated, it can lead to arthritis and neurological damage.

If you discover a tick on your body, remove it immediately; laboratory studies show it can take 24 to 48 hours before an attached tick starts transmitting bacteria to the human it's feasting on. But the health department says it's not necessary to send the tick to a lab to be tested for Lyme disease. It's more important to watch for symptoms in the person who's been bitten. For more information: http://bit.ly/YuAChL